Satya Nadella calls for global GDPR

Could the US, Europe and China form a global data regulation standard?

Shares

(Image credit: Wright Studio / Shutterstock)

During a recent interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella praised the European data regulation GDPR and called for the US to follow suit.

Nadella shared his opinion on the new regulation which went into effect in May of last year, saying:

"My own point of view on GDPR is it's a fantastic start on really treating privacy as a human right. I'm hopeful that in the United States we will have something that is along the same lines."

Microsoft's CEO isn't alone in his beliefs and Apple's Tim Cook echoed similar ideas in his recent op-ed in Time Magazine in which he called for the US to rein in data brokers to help give consumers true privacy when it comes to their data.

Global data protection

Microsoft's President Brad Smith also brought up privacy at this year's World Economic Forum. He described 2018 as a “watershed” for the tech industry and stressed that new US federal privacy laws are inevitable.

Nadella believes that data regulation should be a global issue and not just limited to the US. He described a future where the US, Europe and China come together on the issue, saying:

"In fact I will hope that the world over, we all converge on a common standard. One of the things we do not want to do is fragment the world and increase transaction costs, because ultimately it's going to be born in our economic figures. I hope we all come together, the Unites States and Europe first, and China. All the three regions will have to come together and set a global standard.”

Microsoft has also reportedly been involved in the lobbying efforts to help shape any potential US federal legislation similar to GDPR.